[bumbada]

Not really. The main reason Vienna have rental prices below other European capitals is because it was one of the few cities that actually lost a significant part of its population multiple times. It was the capital of a big empire that was destroyed and they incorporated to a different Empire that also was destroyed.

Lots of people left to other cities that were not as bureaucratic looking for opportunities an oversized capital without Empire could not sustain.

BTW, It was not pretty. Lots of families that used to live in Vienna now live in Israel for a reason.

You could say the same thing about Detroit in the US.

[qwytw]

Vienna's population was at it's lowest in 1951, it has grown by almost a quarter since then, whereas Detroit's current population is a fraction of what it was in the 50's. While admittedly Vienna has been growing slower than most other major cities in Europe your explanation is ~80-100 years outdated..

[bosie]

Population size isn't as important as you make it out to be, to be honest. What you need to figure out is sqm usage, which has gone up significantly. In the big empire back then you had 12 people on 30 sqm, now you have 75 year old widows living alone in an 80sqm flat, not moving out as they did 30 or 40 years ago.